Earth Magic and Druid Lore ~ A Series for the Season ~Hearth, Home and Samhain
By the warmth of the hearth, we gather round, for inspiration and ceremony. It brings to us, a sense of spiritual kinship and
values of home. Storyteller's faces glow by the light of the fire blazing beneath the cauldron filled with spicy aromas. Music
floats and soothes the soul and heals the heart. The turning of the wheel once again, reminds us of a New Year dawning. Our love
and respect for the earth told in tales of the past and once again brought forth by Druids and kin alike. On Hallow's eve, the
jack-o-lanterns glow in the windows to ward off evil spirits. The moon shines brightly on those conversing with loved ones and our
ancestors passed on. The veil is thin between worlds at this time, and sitting by the fire brings light to many things in our
home and hearth.
October 31 is when many pagans, druids and most witches celebrate the greater Sabbat commonly called Halloween or Samhain,
pronounced sowen or soween. Some other names for Samhain include Hallowe'en, Halloween, Hallowtide, Shadow Fest, Harvest Home, Day of the Dead, Feast of the Dead, Spirit Night, November Eve, Ancestor Night, Apple Fest, All Hallow's Eve, Old Hallomas, Hallowmass, Martinmass, Shadowfest, and All Soul's Day.
This was the time the Celtic people came to terms with death and pondered on their own destinies. This day is considered the
highest holy days. Samhain (Summer's End), is the most widely used Celtic name for this holiday. Rituals on this night include
remembering and honoring our loved ones and our ancestors.
One tradition is called the "dumb supper." This is a feast with all the wonderful foods from the last harvest. A place is set for
our departed family members. You might set photos or other mementos upon the table and tell stories remembering times shared
with those who have passed over.
During this time, many will ask their ancestors' spirits to assist in whichever form of divination they choose. Some common
and oldest forms used are tarot, fire, the pendulum and mirror. You might also try a dark bowl or cauldron filled with liquid,
crystals, runes, or reading tea leaves. Guided meditations or astral travel for the purpose of past life regression and/or for
the purpose of knowing or learning something specific from one's ancestors, are very successful on this night.
In many parts of England, it was believed that the ghosts of all persons who were destined to die in the coming year could be seen
walking through the graveyards at midnight on Samhain. Many of the ghosts that people thought they saw were said to be evil. For
protection, jack-o-lanterns with horrible candle-lit faces were carved out of pumpkins and carried as lanterns to scare away the
evil spirits.
This is the time in the Celtic year the gods drew near to Earth. Many sacrifices and gifts were offered up in thanksgiving for the
harvest. Personal prayers were lifted up and trinkets representing wishes and ills were thrown into the fires. At the
end of the ceremonies, brands were lit from the great fire of Tara to re-kindle all the home fires of the tribe. As they
received the flame that marked this time of beginnings, the people felt a sense of the kindling of new dreams, projects and
hopes for the year to come.
After the bonfires had burned out the ashes were sprinkled over the fields to protect them during the winter months and this also
made the soil rich for the next years harvest to grow.
It is said that lighting a new orange candle at midnight on Samhain and allowing it to burn until sunrise will bring one good luck.
The apple is the Celtic tree of regeneration and eternal life also representing the sun, the source of all life, love, healing
and immortality. Apple orchards were especially protected as sacred ground and apples were offered to the dead and buried at
Samhain as food for those waiting to be reborn. Burning apple blossoms can be used for incense pleasing the spirits.
Brighid or Bridget is the Patroness of the Hearth and Goddess of the household fire. In the evening the woman of the household
would smoor or stoke the fire to keep it going for the night, by adding wood and covering it low to keep it just smoldering until
morning. The fires should be kept going and prayers lifted, asking for the protection of Brighid on all who reside there. She
is perhaps the most well known of all the Celtic goddesses. Her following was so strong that the Catholic church exalted her as
St. Brigit, the foster-mother of Christ, and kept her festival as the feast of St. Brigit. Bridget is sometimes seen as a triple
goddess, the maiden, mother and crone that symbolize the cycle of life. She is the goddess of the hearth, fertility, healing,
herbalism, the arts, midwifery, agriculture, inspiration, poetry, divination, prophecy, smith craft, animal husbandry, love, and
protection. Correspondences for Bridget include the direction north, blackberries, fire, wells, milk, the waxing moon, lambs,
and the heart. Other names for Bridget are, "Bright Arrow," "Bright One," "Powerful One," and "High One." Bridget was a Sun
Goddess, and the legend of her birth is that she was born at sunrise, and a tower of bright flame burst from her forehead that
reached from Earth to the Otherworld. Her fire is so bright that she survived mass spiritual transformation and lives on today
watching over her children all over the world. Imbolc, a festival in her honor is celebrated February first or second, the turning
of winter, heralding the coming of spring. Fires are lit at sundown and feasts are shared with her bright presence.
Late October was the nut harvest for the ancient Celts, and also the time for slaughtering animals that would supply meat for the
long winter. Druids tallied their livestock and mated their ewes for the coming spring. Fruits, vegetables, and grains were also
put away for winter storage.
The Celts put all their fires out on Samhain so that the tribes could relight them from the Druidic fires that were kept burning
in the Middle of Ireland, at Usinach. In Ireland and Scotland, the custom of dousing the home fire and relighting it from the
festival bonfire has been carried into modern times.
The Druids believed that the Lord of Death gathered all the spirits of the dead who had been made to enter the bodies of
animals as punishment for their sins and redistributed them, on Hallowe 'en, the last day of the Celtic year. It was also
believed that the spirits of the dead came back to their old haunts at this time. Fires were lit to guide them home and to
frighten away evil spirits.
A farmer sometimes accompanied by his herds would circle the boundaries of each field to ensure prosperity for the New Year.
This was a reversion to the calendar of the Druids who considered that Samhain was the first day of the New Year.
On Samhain, an old custom was to light a fire on the household hearth which would burn continuously until the first day of the
following spring.
It is said that if you go to a crossroads at Halloween and listen to the wind, you will learn all the most important things that
will befall you during the next year.
Cerridwen is often portrayed as a hag stirring a cauldron, the typical image of Halloween. Cerridwen is one of the goddesses
most associated with shape shifting. She is often seen as a sow, for her attribute of fertility and as the Moon and grain goddess
who possesses the great cauldron of knowledge. Cerridwen is the goddess of death, fertility, regeneration, inspiration,
enchantment, divination, herbs, science, poetry, knowledge, and shapeshifting. Correspondences for Cerridwen include the
direction west, pigs, hens, cauldrons, wolves, vervain, acorns, and the dark moon.
The cauldron holds the great brew of as yet to come wisdom, which is plainly available to anyone who thirsts after it. It also
holds the nourishment of the soul and possesses the property of granting wisdom to any who drink from it. The cauldron remains
important in all Celtic and Druidical workings.
The Hazel tree is the Bard or minstrel poets, tree of wisdom, promoting fertility, poetry, and knowledge. It's a favorite wood
of diviners and dowsers. Druid wands are made from hazel wood, planted in nines around sacred wells. The nuts honor all
knowledge to whoever eats them and are eaten before using divination. Rain is invoked by beating the earth with hazel
branches. The hazel is the most typical Celtic tree because of its legendary position at the heart of the Otherworld, which is
where the nine magic hazelnut trees hang over the Well of Wisdom and drop their purple nuts into the water where the Salmon of
Knowledge and Inspiration eats them. Irish tales say poets and seers "gain nuts of Wisdom," a metaphor for a heightened state of
consciousness, when they drink a brew made from the hazelnuts that have been said to cause hallucinations. There's numerous
reference in Irish literature to drinking "hazel mead." Scottish Druids ate the nuts for prophetic power.
Legends say, the hazel, apple, and hawthorn trees are often found at the border of worlds where magic has been said to happen.
Young lovers roasted hazelnuts over the fire at Samhain, called "Nut Crack Night." If the nut held together, their relationship
would stay steady, but if it burst apart, then the love may not last or it could be a "heated" relationship. This connection
between hazelnuts and love is very ancient. Country folklore has always linked hazelnuts with fertility. New brides were given the nuts much like the wives tale of rice being thrown after the wedding, to indicate fertility.
There are many tales and stories of old and wise, these are just a few. Remember to cherish your loved ones and those who have
passed from this life into another. Reflect on the New Year and count your many blessings.
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